The Virginia field hockey team netted its most impressive victory of the season Sunday, shutting down North Carolina, 1-0.
Led by the stalwart goal-keeping of junior Emily White and timely offense by junior forward Katie Nicholson, the No. 18 Cavaliers (8-5) outlasted the eighth-ranked Tar Heels (7-7) on University Hall Turf Field in wet, overcast conditions.
Virginia showed poise and resolve while thwarting a determined Tar Heel attack. Rigorous offensive pressure by Carolina had Virginia back on its heels for most of the first half, but it was the Cavaliers, not Carolina, who were able to produce a goal.
Nicholson scored on a redirected pass from senior midfielder Cara Unterkofler 15 minutes into play.
Although Nicholson's goal was Virginia's only shot the entire game, opportunism and efficiency were parts of Virginia Coach Jessica Wilk's strategy.
"Our game plan was to take advantage of every scoring opportunity we had knowing that we may not have that many," Wilk said. "Carolina is a very strong team."
Although Virginia sustained its lead going into the second half, the match looked like a reenactment of the Cavaliers' loss to the Tar Heels two weeks ago in Chapel Hill. In that defeat, Virginia led 1-0 with only 12 minutes to play, but succumbed to Carolina's offense and wound up losing 3-1.
"We had some mental lapses and dumb mistakes," Unterkofler said of the nagging loss.
Sunday's 1-0 lead looked equally precarious because Carolina's offense produced 15 shots on goal and 12 penalty corners. Meanwhile, Virginia only had their one shot on goal and failed to play a penalty corner the entire game.
But Sunday would prove to be the Cavaliers' game.
"It was a pride issue," Nicholson said. "We couldn't let that happen again, especially on our own turf."
Virginia learned from the mistakes of two weeks ago. Although Carolina put the pressue on during the second half, the Cavaliers steadfastly refused to let them pull even with a goal.
"At the end of the game they were down, so they had girls deep," Unterkofler said. "They looked to shift the ball, bring everyone to one side and hit a hard ball across to the cherry-pickers. We played a tight man-to-man defense on all those girls."
The backbone of Virginia's defensive power was standout goalkeeper White. On Sunday she notched her fourth shutout of the season and demonstrated both her aggressiveness and ability to synchronize with the rest of the defense.
At the beginning of the second half, White dove out into the middle of the circle to block a threatening Carolina forward. She undercut both the dribbling Tar Heel and another player in the process, knocking them to the ground, but she had blasted the ball out of the zone.
"I am always looking for the ball, looking for the girl getting ready to shoot: someone who's a step ahead or someone with their head down," White said. "There are all these little cues that goal-keepers learn in terms of when players are going to shoot."
Seven minutes later White collaborated with two other members of her defense in making the most spectacular save of the game. Carolina engineered a furious series of shots on goal and the ball was pinballing within the circle. White made a series of lunging blocks only to have the ball finally squirt past her extended reach and dance along the goal line.
Fortunately, freshman defender Sarah Miller had combined with White to form the last line of defense. Miller flicked the ball out of harm's way just before Carolina attackers could stuff it in the goal, and White kicked it up-field.
The Cavaliers will return to the field Friday in Ithaca, N.Y. when they face Dartmouth.
Read More
Football lands three additional transfers
By Peter Kriebel | YesterdayOne common trait that stands out with this most recent batch of transfers is size.
Men’s basketball suffers road drubbing versus California
By Emory Huffman | YesterdayVirginia submitted another rudderless performance.
